Metro Detroit’s Community Summit on Ending Homeless Supportive Housing Overview Cobo Hall Nov. 16, 2004

The Problem Chronic Homelessness Detroit has a very visible and costly homelessness problem. Statewide, more than 40,000 people sleep in homeless shelters every night, over 10,000 in Detroit alone. In contrast, Detroit has a shelter bed inventory of only 4,763.

Costs to Detroit High Cost to Public Systems: Unhoused people use the highest-cost public systems: emergency rooms, hospital psychiatric beds, detoxification centers, residential treatment programs and jail cells. This places a huge burden on systems for which taxpayers foot the bill. Hurts Employers & Workers: Unreimbursed medical care for unhoused people and families costs healthcare systems millions annually, losses subsidized by higher business premiums increasingly shifted to workers, driving down local wages.

Costs to Detroit Deters Investment: Visible concentrations of un- housed people hurt economic development as potential developers pass on areas that have no plan to address the problem Reduces Workforce Competitiveness: Children of un-housed families have no stable home, cycle from one school to another, underperforming academically, reducing the competitiveness of our future workforce.

The Solution: Supportive Housing  Permanent, affordable housing with supportive services enables families and individuals to live independently and lead successful lives.  Supportive Housing saves public money by shifting resources from costly emergency services toward cost-effective, long-term solutions A Housing and Service Delivery Innovation

What is Supportive Housing? It is NOT a shelter, transitional housing or a treatment program. What are its essential features?  It is permanent housing  Services are voluntary  Tenants have same rights and obligations of tenants in market housing

Why Supportive Housing?  250,000 Americans experience long-term homelessness, measuring their homelessness in months and years, not days  For decades communities have been forced to create an industry to “manage” homelessness, not address the underlying causes

 Emergency and institutional systems are significant sources of care and support  Institutions and systems of care are discharging people with disabilities into homelessness  Government is spending hundreds of millions of dollars per year yet homeless rates are growing Why Supportive Housing?

Supportive Housing is for People Who:  Are living on the streets or in shelters for extended periods of time  Cycle through institutional and emergency systems and are at risk of long term homelessness  Are being discharged from institutions and systems of care  Cannot access and make effective use of treatment and supportive services in the community without housing

Supportive Housing Types  Dedicated buildings  Rent-subsidized apartments  Mixed-income buildings  Long-term set asides  Single family homes

Results of Supportive Housing  57%  emergency room visits 1  85%  emergency detox services 2  50%  incarceration rate 3  50%  in earned income and  40%  in rate of participant employment when employment services are provided  More than 80% stay housed for at least one year 4 1 Supportive Housing and Its Impact on the Public Health Crisis of Homelessness, CSH, May Analysis of the Anishinabe Wakaigun, September 1996-March Making a Difference: Interim Status Report of the McKinney Research Demonstration Program for Homeless Mentally Ill Adults, See note 1 above U. Penn. study of 5,000 mentally ill homeless people in New York: Supportive housing created an average annual savings of $16,000 per person, per year, by reducing use of public services

National Momentum  New federal, state and local investments  U.S. Conference of Mayors  10-Year Plans to End Homelessness  Interagency Council on Homelessness  Ending Long-term Homelessness Services Initiative (ELHSI)

Opportunities for Detroit Developers and Investors  Technical and financial assistance for supportive housing projects  Intermediaries that can assess the strengths and weaknesses of projects including underwriting expertise

 Help to secure and leverage funding  Analysis of development and operating budgets and service plans  Help build community support  Advocacy support around the policy issues relating to supportive housing Opportunities for Detroit Developers and Investors

Supportive Housing in Detroit

Developments Harwill Manor – City of Detroit Wayne County 13 th District Wyoming/Joy Apartments – Detroit Wayne County 13 District

Developments Harrington Apartments – City of Detroit Wayne County 13 th District Willshire Building – City of Detroit Wayne County 13 th District